Stephen Fry to host 'musical' gay wedding in same-sex marriage celebration
Fry will preside over the nuptials of Benjamin and Nathan on Channel 4
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Your support makes all the difference.Stephen Fry is to narrate one of the UK’s first same-sex marriages in a Channel 4 special called Our Gay Wedding: The Musical.
As the 60-minute show’s title suggests, this will be a ‘musical’ broadcast to celebrate the historic passing of the equal marriage bill in England and Wales just days earlier.
The grooms, composer Benjamin Till and West End actor Nathan Taylor, are penning the music and lyrics to be sung during their wedding in accompaniment with Fry’s commentary.
Some famous faces are set to feature in the musical but their names are yet to be announced. Benjamin and Nathan’s family and friends will perform ensemble songs throughout the ceremony, with sung vows, readings and messages from around the world.
“We’ve been together for nearly 12 years and never thought we’d get the chance to get married, for real,” the couple said. “Doing what we both do for a living has meant that we’ve spent our entire lives expressing emotion through song, so getting married in a musical, particularly one that we’re writing ourselves, felt like the most natural thing in the world.”
In a nod to the struggle for gay rights, there will be tributes to other gay and lesbian couples getting married and reminders of the hardships faced by gay people in countries where homosexuality is still a crime.
“We are proud to be marking a huge milestone for gay rights - a cause that has long been close to Channel 4’s heart,” said John Hay, Channel 4’s commissioning editor for arts.
Fry has long supported equal marriage, calling on Britain to boycott the Russian Winter Olympics due to the country's strict anti-gay propaganda laws and urging David Cameron to back his campaign for a ban.
Fry likened the Sochi Games to those hold in Berlin under Nazi Germany. "I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler's anti-Semitism. I for one, weep at seeing history repeat itself," he wrote in a letter to Downing Street.
Our Gay Wedding: The Musical has yet to have an air date scheduled, but the intention is to broadcast as soon as possible after same-sex marriage is legalised on Saturday 29 March, making a Sunday or Monday screening likely.